To Help Students, Some Colleges Provide Double the Teachers

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Terrica Purvis squinted through goggles as her hands carefully guided a pipette full of indigo-tinted fluid into clear glass test tubes. It was the last chemistry lab of the winter quarter at Everett Community College. Purvis was working through the steps of what chemistry professor Valerie Mosser jokingly refers to as the “post-apocalypse survival” lab — an experiment using boiled red cabbage water to test the acidity of common household chemicals. Purvis, 27, is in her first year of study for an associate degree in nursing at Everett Community College. She is also one of more than 6,000 Washington communitymore

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What’s the Landscape for International Students in 2023?

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A survey of more than 1,000 global education agents from five continents found that there will be a surge in applications this year. However, students’ top concerns vary – Chinese students care most about rankings, while students from the Middle East and Africa worry more about costs. Dive into the research in this report from INTO University Partnerships. (April 2023) …

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What’s a ‘Practical Major’?

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French! That’s according to writer Freddie DeBoer, who cites the hundreds of millions of French speakers across Africa. DeBoer argues that “safe majors” like business or computer science often suffer from high competition, low educational standards, volatile demand and susceptibility to artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, the idea of a “practical major” is meaningless, constantly changing and used to blame people for economic issues beyond their control. Read his take on the topic in New York Magazine. (April 2023) …

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Why Does the United Nations Think Global Education is ‘Seriously off Track’?

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The latest session of the U.N. Commission on Population and Development is happening this week in New York. Attendees have discussed how women and girls are still denied equal access to education, how aging in rich countries and high birth rates in poorer ones affect public schooling, and how the pandemic may have punched a hole in the goal of equal education for all. Read a summary of their discussion in this U.N. press release. (April 2023) …

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Taraji P. Henson Partners With HBCUs on Mental Wellness

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Alabama State University is partnering on a new project to make free mental health resources more widely available to students at historically Black colleges and universities, The Associated Press reported.     The “She Care Wellness Pods” will give students access to therapy sessions, workshops, yoga and quiet spaces. Actress Taraji P. Henson’s Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is partnering with the Kate Spade Foundation to place the pods on HBCU campuses. Alabama State is the first to participate in the program, AP reported.  Henson said the foundations are trying to make resources more available and eradicate the stigma around mental health issuesmore

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Is College in the US a ‘Business’?

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The authors of a new book, “Campus Economics: How Economic Thinking Can Help Improve College and University Decisions,” think so. Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson weigh in on the future of tenure, the effects of high inflation and why colleges don’t shut down unpopular majors. Weigh their arguments for yourself in this interview with Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. (April 2023) …

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How Much Should the US Government Interfere With the Colleges It Helps Fund?

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Florida is home to New College, whose roughly 700 students largely devise their own degree programs. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has accused Florida’s public education system of indoctrinating students in left-wing ideas and has removed New College’s president and board. (DeSantis is expected to announce this summer as a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race.) Supporters of his actions say it brings accountability to colleges run with taxpayer money; opponents claim it threatens academic freedom. Dan Friedell from VOA Learning English examines the controversy, based on a report from The Associated Press. (April 2023) …

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Does Joint Research Between the US and China Have a Future?

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The Biden administration announced it would end the China Initiative, a Trump-era plan to investigate academic espionage by China. However, the Biden administration has set new compliance, disclosure and privacy rules, and research collaboration has declined. Many researchers, especially Asian American ones, report being afraid to work alongside their Chinese peers. Can the U.S. balance national security with academic openness? Karin Fischer of the Chronicle of Higher Education looks at both sides of the issue. (April 2023) …

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Is AI a Curse for College Educators or a Gift?

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Tulane University President Michael Fitts thinks that AI can make creative work easier but will never replace human creativity itself. AI “can find an answer, but it can’t be the first to ask the question,” he wrote. As long as that remains the case, universities will need to train human minds, he added. Read the op-ed from Michael Fitts in USA Today. (April 2023) …

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Are College Rankings Useful?

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U.S. News & World Report publishes the most influential college rankings in the U.S. But last year, Yale Law School – the No. 1 legal program in the country for years – chose not to participate. Twelve of the top 14 law schools followed suit, though most still made it into this year’s rankings despite not submitting data. Now, both undergraduate and graduate programs are deciding whether rankings make sense for them. This panel discussion, featuring the dean of Yale Law, the CEO of U.S. News & World Report and a high school student, was produced by Chris Remington andmore

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Should Government Employees Be Hired Based on Skills? Or Degrees?

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Many college graduates aspire to work in government because of the stability, benefits and sense of purpose. But at least six states have tried to reduce the importance of a college degree in getting a job, arguing that the requirements are a burden on poorer applicants and result in turning away many gifted ones – all amidst a labor shortage. New Jersey, one of the wealthiest and most populous states, is just the latest. Read the story from Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech for The Hill. (April 2023) …

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Colleges’ Actions on Sustainability are a Draw for Students

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Younger Americans – millennials and adults in Generation Z – are more engaged in addressing climate change on- and offline, according to a 2021 Pew Research poll. Compared with older adults, Gen Zers and millennials are talking more about the need for action on climate change, including discussing and sharing information on social media platforms and by volunteering and attending rallies and protests on climate change, Pew found. Colleges and universities in the U.S. are taking note of students’ increased interest and are finding ways to become more environmentally sustainable, The Washington Post reported.  Read the story from Amudalat Ajasamore

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Is the ‘Death of the Humanities’ Real?

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Between 2012 and 2018, U.S. enrollment in humanities majors dropped by over 14%. Many students think that the humanities, like history or English, won’t get them a good job or aren’t relevant to their interests. But the true picture may be less dire. Some colleges are bringing their humanities programs into the 21st century, and students are responding in earnest, as Johanna Alonso of Inside Higher Ed reports. (April 2023) …

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Everyone Agrees Campus ‘Free Speech’ Is in Crisis – but What Exactly do They Mean by Free Speech?

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Republicans in Congress convened a hearing on free speech, calling witnesses who claimed new language rules and diversity requirements have made healthy disagreement impossible. Democrats countered by noting Republican efforts to restrict public school curricula and ban books from public libraries. Eva Surovell of the Chronicle of Higher Education analyzes the debate. …

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Why Are Fewer Americans Enrolling in Community College?

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Community colleges offer two-year degrees, which are often meant to be a steppingstone to a full bachelor’s degree. But nearly half of two-year community college students drop out, and the number of students enrolling has plummeted by 37% since 2010. Some would-be students are taking advantage of a lucrative job market before school; others are questioning the value of college in the first place. Read the story from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report, published by the Associated Press. (April 2023) …

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Navajo Tech First Among US Tribal Universities to Offer PhD

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A university on the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. launched its accredited doctoral program, becoming the first among more than 30 accredited tribal colleges and universities across the country to offer such a high-level degree. The program at Navajo Technical University will be dedicated to sustaining Diné culture and language. Dine is the Navajo word meaning “the people” and is commonly what tribal members call themselves. A celebration is planned on the Crownpoint campus in western New Mexico in April, and the school already started accepting applications for the fall semester. The offering marks a milestone for themore

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Jaded By Education, More Americans Skip College

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When he looked to the future, Grayson Hart always saw a college degree. He was a good student at a good high school. He wanted to be an actor, or maybe a teacher. Growing up, he believed college was the only route to a good job, stability and a happy life. The pandemic changed his mind. A year after high school, Hart is directing a youth theater program in Jackson, Tennessee. He got into every college he applied to but turned them all down. Cost was a big factor, but a year of remote learning also gave him the timemore

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Cheaters Beware: ChatGPT Maker Releases AI Detection Tool 

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The maker of ChatGPT is trying to curb its reputation as a freewheeling cheating machine with a new tool that can help teachers detect if a student or artificial intelligence wrote that homework. The new AI Text Classifier launched Tuesday by OpenAI follows a weeks-long discussion at schools and colleges over fears that ChatGPT’s ability to write just about anything on command could fuel academic dishonesty and hinder learning. OpenAI cautions that its new tool – like others already available – is not foolproof. The method for detecting AI-written text “is imperfect and it will be wrong sometimes,” said Janmore

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